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Munich. The BMW Group is to invest more than €10
million in a new Additive Manufacturing Campus. Located in
Oberschleissheim, just north of Munich, the facility will allow the
company to continue developing its expertise this field of work.

Udo Hänle, Head of Production Integration and Pilot Plant: “Our new
Additive Manufacturing Campus will concentrate the full spectrum of
the BMW Group’s 3D printing expertise at a single location. This will
allow us to test new technologies early on and continue developing our
pioneering role.”

Jens Ertel, Head of the BMW Group’s Additive Manufacturing Center and
the future campus director, adds: “Our new facility will be a major
milestone in additive manufacturing at the BMW Group. The team there
will evaluate new and existing technologies in both plastics and
metals printing and develop them to series maturity. Our goal is to
provide the optimum technology and process chain, be it for individual
components, small production runs or even large-scale manufacturing.”

Within the BMW Group production network, the new Additive
Manufacturing Campus will foster the latest technologies in this field
in much the same way as a pilot plant and make them available for use
within the network. Much of the work carried out there will focus on
parts manufacturing for prototype construction, series production and
customised solutions. The facility will also act as an
interdisciplinary training and project area, for instance for
development engineers. When it goes on stream in early 2019, it will
accommodate up to 80 associates.

Major potential in series production for customised vehicle components

Additive manufacturing is an integral part of the BMW Group
production system and harbours significant potential for series
production. Most recently it has been used to generate parts for the
BMW i8 Roadster. Jens Ertel: “With the BMW i8 Roadster, the BMW Group
became the first carmaker to 3D-print a production run of several
thousand metal parts. The component concerned is a fixture in the
tonneau cover for the soft-top.” Made of aluminium alloy, the printed
item is lighter than the normal injection-moulded equivalent but
significantly more rigid. Its ‘bionic’ geometry, inspired by forms
found in nature, was optimised for 3D printing purposes.

Additive manufacturing is also gaining importance for customised
components. The new MINI Yours Customised programme, for example,
allows customers to design certain components themselves. Indicator
inlays and dashboard trim strips, for instance, can be 3D-printed to
their precise specifications.

Decentralising manufacturing – production follows the market

The BMW Group expects that, with time, it will become possible to
produce components directly where they are ultimately needed – an idea
that harbours tremendous potential. Jens Ertel: “The 3D printers that
are currently operating across our production network represent a
first step towards local part production. We are already using
additive manufacturing to make prototype components on location in
Spartanburg (US), Shenyang (China) and Rayong (Thailand). Going
forward, we could well imagine integrating it more fully into local
production structures to allow small production runs, country-specific
editions and customisable components – provided it represents a
profitable solution.” This would make additive manufacturing a useful
addition to existing production technologies.

Investments through BMW i Ventures

For the BMW Group, investments in start-ups have proved promising not
only in strategic but also in commercial terms. In addition, they
represent a sustainable strategic value add.

In September 2016, for example, the BMW Group’s venture capital arm,
BMW i Ventures, invested in the Silicon Valley-based company Carbon,
whose DLS (digital light synthesis) printing technology was a
breakthrough in the production of parts with high-quality surfaces.
The technique allows significantly larger areas to be processed more
rapidly than would otherwise be possible with conventional selective
3D printing. Carbon and the BMW Group have been partners since 2015.

A further investment in additive manufacturing came in February 2017,
this time in the start-up Desktop Metal. Desktop Metal specialises in
the additive manufacturing of metal components and has developed
highly productive and innovative methodologies. It now works closely
with the Additive Manufacturing Centre at the BMW Group.

In June 2017 the BMW Group invested in a company called Xometry,
which works in the supply chain industry. Xometry is a web-based
platform that networks suppliers and manufacturers from different
sectors with each other. Pilot projects are already underway in a
range of areas including spare parts manufacturing.

Cooperations with innovative partners such as these aim to speed up
the adoption of additive manufacturing technologies.

Digital production methods for vehicle development and manufacturing

Thanks to its tremendous scope for the rapid manufacture of quality
parts of almost any geometry, additive manufacturing has been in use
in the construction of concept cars at the BMW Group since 1991.
Components are realised purely using digital data, eliminating the
need for classic tools such as press tools and injection moulds. At
present, the technology is most commonly used for small production
runs of customised and often highly complex components.